


of pointless celebrations and lo mein

by lafbaeyette



Series: finding their home [9]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Lafayette, Queerplatonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 07:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6145979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lafbaeyette/pseuds/lafbaeyette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexander did not do birthdays. He did everything he could to hide his birthday from his friends for as long as possible, happily sitting through their celebrations and changing the subject when the topic turned to ‘so when is your birthday?’ Much to their chagrin, he refused to even share this information on Facebook or Twitter, marking his birthday as ‘July 4th, 1776’ - no one was even sure on how old Alexander was at this point. He made it through two birthdays before anyone wised up enough to figure it out — or had gotten fed up enough to take action, in John’s case. </p><p>AKA </p><p>The classic 'Alex Doesn't Tell Anyone His Birthday But They Find Out Anyway' only in a different 'verse</p>
            </blockquote>





	of pointless celebrations and lo mein

**Author's Note:**

> I'm seriously falling in love with this 'verse as a whole, and I'm really glad to see that you all are enjoying it, too. 
> 
> This was written in honor of and is dedicated to my best friend Saint, who isn't on AO3, but I assure you she's amazing. Today is her birthday, and sometimes birthdays can be hard, but it's always important to note that your birthdays will be filled with people who love you -- and I love you, Saint. Happy Birthday. <3 
> 
> While on the topic of Saint, she has been wonderful in helping me expand on this 'verse by asking for headcanons and it's been so much fun to answer her questions -- I've now started posting them on Tumblr (hypeulesnochilligan.tumblr.com) and, as always, I'm 100% open to others dropping questions/suggestions/prompts into my askbox~

Alexander did not do birthdays. He did everything he could to hide his birthday from his friends for as long as possible, happily sitting through their celebrations and changing the subject when the topic turned to ‘ _so when is_ your _birthday?_ ’ Much to their chagrin, he refused to even share this information on Facebook or Twitter, marking his birthday as ‘July 4th, 1776’ - no one was even sure on how _old_ Alexander was at this point. He made it through two birthdays before anyone wised up enough to figure it out — or had gotten fed up enough to take action, in John’s case. 

Alex’s fingers tightened in John’s curls as he pulled him closer, their lips sliding together. John’s hands slid down Alex’s sides, squeezing his hips and swallowing the groan that worked its way out of Alex’s throat. His hands slid further, cupping Alex’s ass, slipping into the back pockets of his jeans, and Alex rocked his hips forward. All too soon John was pulling away, a triumphant cry passing his lips and a dazed and confused Alex watching on as he turned away, hiding something against his chest. Alex finally realized that his wallet was in John’s hands and lunged toward his boyfriend, reaching for the plastic card he’d just slipped out of its protective pocket. 

“Hey!” Alex cried, trying to reach around John and snatch the items away. John held them out further, his other arm holding Alex back as he grinned at the barely smiling younger Alexander in the picture and squinted to read the small print on the card. “John!” 

"Your birthday was two months ago?” John asked, finally dropping his arm and turning to face his boyfriend. Alex seized his things from John, shoving his license back into place as he turned his back on his boyfriend.

“I can’t believe you seduced me just to steal my wallet,” Alex grumbled, shooting a glare over his shoulder. “If I weren’t upset with you right now, I’d be impressed.” John let out a sharp laugh that died in his throat at the harsh look from Alex,  his face immediately falling back into concern. 

"Why didn’t you say anything?” John questioned, reaching out to take Alex’s hand. Alex didn’t pull away, but he didn’t look back at John either. “Alexander, we’ve missed your birthday twice now — why didn’t you ever tell us?” 

“Because it doesn’t matter.” Alex replied, voice harsh and definitive. John’s frown deepened, he tightened his hold on Alex’s hand. 

“Of course it matters, it’s your _birthday_.” He felt like it was obvious enough, he didn’t really know what else to say. Alex had seemed to enjoy celebrating _their_ birthdays, why didn’t he let them celebrate his with him? 

“It’s just another day.” Alex sighed. 

“It’s _your_ day,” John countered. Alex turned on him quickly, letting go of his hand, his glare hardening. 

“I don’t celebrate my birthday, and I don’t want you to either. Okay? Don’t tell the others about it.” Alex almost looked guilty for a second before adding a quiet, “Please.” John simply nodded, though his mind swirled with confusion and despite being desperate to understand he dropped the subject. 

* * *

John doesn’t bring it up again for a few more months, which Alex was thankful for, but it was still nagging at the back of John’s mind. They had just celebrated his own birthday last week, Lafayette throwing a huge party to celebrate his 23rd — not without complaining about the lack of songs regarding turning 23, of course. John tried to keep his thoughts to himself, not wanting to push Alexander into a conversation he wasn’t comfortable having. But as they sat side by side on their bed, Alex engrossed in a book and John pretending to be engrossed in his own, John’s curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to test how far he could go, and maybe it wasn’t the time, but _you never know until you try._

“I know you don’t celebrate… but can I take you out to a dinner that coincidentally occurs on January 11th?” John asked slowly, watching Alex from the corner of his eye. Alex didn’t even look up from the pages of his book, head ducked down as he squinted at the print — John made a mental note to find his reading glasses, he seemed to lose them every other day. 

“No.” Alex’s voice was even, but firm. He didn’t sound upset, which encouraged John to continue. 

“Why not?” 

Alex sighed, eyes closing for a second before he responded, “It’s not worth celebrating.” It was John’s turn to sigh. 

“Alexander, at the most basic definition it is a celebration of you making it another cycle around the sun.” 

“So?” 

John gaped a bit, confused and exasperated as he continued, “ _Alex_. I would think you of all people would be on top of a day to celebrate _you_.” 

Alex shut his book suddenly, tossing it to the floor by their bed before turning to John, brows furrowed with frustration and what John recognized as Alex’s own confusion. “For _what_? What did I do? I was _born_. How is that worth celebrating? That wasn’t even any effort on my part. I survived? Yeah, _great_ , I didn’t die with my mother — or with the thousands of other unlucky souls taken by the hurricane, or the _millions_  that die every day. Awesome, _wow_ , let’s throw a party all because something went wrong and I survived—” Alex cut himself off, dropping his eyes to his lap and refusing to look John in the eye. John lifted his hand, wanting to reach out, but he saw the imperceptible flinch from Alex at just that action and let his hand fall back to the bed. 

"Alex…” John’s voice was quiet, gentle, and full of honest concern. “What do you mean something went wrong?” 

"Nothing.” John could hear the crack in his boyfriend’s voice, watched Alex wince as he heard it, too. 

“Alexander,” John started, but Alex didn’t let him continue. 

“Drop it, John.” 

John turned his body to face Alex, pushing his book to the side and focusing all of his attention on the other man. “I can’t now. Alex, please talk to me.” 

“There’s nothing to talk about.” 

“ _Alexander_.” Alex ducked his head and John reached out again, carefully taking Alex’s face in his hands. Alex didn’t flinch this time, but he still refused to meet John’s eyes. “Look at me, please.” Alex’s warm, brown eyes flicked up to meet John’s and John felt his heart constrict at the sight of tears welling in them. “Alexander, you… you being here is not a mistake. Nothing went wrong, honey. I’m so sorry you feel differently, but I need you to know how much you mean to me— you are the most important person in my life and I love you so much.” He swiped his thumb beneath Alex’s eye, catching a stray tear before it could fall. “If you don’t want to celebrate your birthday, we won’t. I’ll respect that… But I want you to know that you are worth celebrating. You’re so clever, and witty, and brilliant — not to mention fucking gorgeous. You astound me every day, Alexander Hamilton, you _are_ worth it.” 

Alex’s eyes fell and John could see the wetness building up. He let go of his face and Alex wiped his wrist over his face, trying to hide the fact that he was crying. His voice betrayed him with his response, quiet and broken, “There are so many people that deserve to have more birthdays than me.” John’s heart broke, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Alex’s temple. 

“Alex, baby, you deserve the world and more. You may not see it, but I promise you do.”

* * *

 

They don’t mention birthdays again, they don’t mention that night again, though John does begin telling Alex that he loves him a bit more frequently. Alex was nervous once January 11th rolls back around, afraid that John had actually told the others and they would plan something. The day went by as usual, no one mentioned a birthday or Alex turning 22 — That’s when he knew John had kept his word, Lafayette would not have passed up the chance to blast Taylor Swift’s _22_ all day had they known. Hercules came over after work, as per usual, and they ordered Chinese and they started binge-watching the second season of _Orange is the New Black_. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but John and Alex were both keenly aware of the date. John held Alex imperceptibly closer, pressing a few extra kisses into his hair in his own subtle 'Happy Birthday'. 

Alex couldn't focus on the show, too busy taking in the scene around him — John pressed close to his side in this oversized armchair that he’s pretty sure Lafayette admitted to stealing some years ago. Across the room, Lafayette was lounging with their legs stretched out over Hercules lap, container of lo mein perched on their stomach that Hercules occasionally stole a bite out of. Hercules was entranced by the show, only looking away for a bite of lo mein. He was lucky, really, to have these three people constantly by his side — this was their usual night, and it was the best way Alex could think to spend his birthday, whether he outright celebrated it or not. This had been his ‘normal’ for the past three years, and he wouldn’t change a single part of it. 

Maybe there were people that deserved more birthdays than he did, maybe he questioned if he really deserved all that he had— but he realized that if nothing else, he appreciated the hell out of whatever being made this possible. To whatever forces compelled Lafayette to speak to him that day in Intro to PoliSci, to whatever convinced him to accept that first dinner invitation — everything that brought him to this moment, squeezed into an armchair with the love of his life, the two other most important people fighting over a container of Chinese food across from them as they watch what’s essentially boiling down to lesbian porn together (not that Alex doesn’t appreciate the plot of the show wholeheartedly, but he’s just realized the scene they’re on has just been straight porn for the past few minutes). It wasn’t the worst life, it wasn’t the worst birthday. 

Alex leaned further into John, tucking his head into the crook of his boyfriend’s neck and pressing the softest kiss against his throat. He felt John shiver and chuckled to himself. “Happy birthday to me,” he murmured. 

John almost convinced himself that he imagined it, until he tilted his head to look at Alex and found that beaming smile. He kissed his forehead, his own lips stretching into a grin as he responded, “Happy birthday, Alex.” 

The two on the couch immediately stopped their feud over the container, eyes falling on the couple. Lafayette was the first to speak, lifting a finely shaped brow. “I’m sorry, _what_?” 

“It’s your birthday?!” Hercules exclaimed, jumping to his feet. Lafayette let out an indignant sound as their feet fell, but followed suit. Alex simply nodded, nervously. 

“Happy birthday, man!” Hercules clapped him on the back, grinning from ear to ear. “Man, I’ve been waiting so long to get to say that to you. How have we not known?” 

Alex shrugged, opening his mouth to respond, but being cut off by Lafayette. 

“John probably wanted all of the birthday sex to himself,” they huffed, eyeing John with mock judgement before looking back at Hercules. “I told you he knew.” 

“John just found out,” Alex admitted. “I made him promise not to tell you, because… I don’t really like to talk about it.” 

“Of course, _mon ami_ ,” Lafayette leaned down and kissed Alex gently on the cheek. “I am glad to know now, however. Happy birthday.” 

Alex’s face heated up and he hid it in John’s shoulder as his friends surrounded him in a quick group hug. 

“So,” Hercules starts as he straightens, looking down at where Lafayette has no nuzzled their way into the chair, leaving Alex enveloped between his roommates’ bodies. “How old _are_  you, Alex?” 

Alex barked out a laugh. “22.” He only laughed harder when Lafayette let out an excited whoop, twisting until they could grab their phone from their pocket. 

“I can’t believe I’ve missed the opportunity to be playing this _all day_!” They shouted, signaling for Hercules to pause Netflix as they turned up the volume of their phone and let Taylor Swift’s vocals fill the room just as they had on everyone else’s twenty-second birthdays. Hercules rolled his eyes but perched on the arm of the chair as the four of them began shout-singing along to the chorus. No, this definitely wasn’t the worst birthday. If he was going to keep having these, he may as well start enjoying them with the ones he loves. 

**Author's Note:**

> Now, how ya feelin'? Tell me all about it in a comment. Show your love with some kudos. 
> 
> Come yell at me on Tumblr, hypeulesnochilligan.tumblr.com - Ask me things, send me prompts, just come tell me fun facts about the founding fathers. 
> 
> Peace out my loves and familton, 
> 
> \- Pip


End file.
